Ninety Nine point Eight Percent
by Wedjatqi
Summary: A routine blood test shows that Torren is not Kanaan's son. My response to the Beya April ‘What if…?’ Challenge. JT


**Disclaimers**: I own no part of the Stargate world, I make no money from this endeavour. I only love this world so much I wish to play in it.

**Note:** Not feeling totally inspired to write at the moment. I've gotten 5 chapters of 'Wishes' written, but rather run out of steam, so thought I would try at the Beya challenges. Not my best work, but thought it would help to post it anyway…a nudge to the muse…

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"Doctor?" The voice drew Carson's attention from the computer screen at which he had been staring for what had likely been hours. He turned his head towards the voice to see one of the Junior Doctors making her way towards him though the empty infirmary.

"Yes, Lucy?" He replied.

"Are you free for a moment?" She asked as she neared him.

"Yes, since it's so quiet in here," Carson remarked as he turned his chair towards her. "Probably because Rodney's away," he suggested. Jennifer and Rodney were on holiday together, something that they were all waiting with great interest to see the outcome. Carson suspected Rodney would find it difficult spending a few days away from his work and the city, let alone the two weeks that Jennifer had talked him into.

Lucy smiled as she reached him, but it was strained and he saw the tension to her expression.

"What is it?" He asked.

Lucy paused by his desk, looking worried. Carson was pretty sure there wasn't any serious medical issues occurring tonight, which had afforded him some quiet time to contemplate his ongoing research as he covered Jennifer's shifts for her.

"I was running the bloods through from today. Just the standard tests," Lucy began seeming almost nervous.

"You found something unsettling?" Carson concluded. It wasn't a rarity that something showed up on the routine blood tests, after all that was why they were run.

She glanced down at the tablet in her hand, not yet handing it over to him though he held out his hand to receive it. She glanced around and then stepped closer, her voice dropping.

"I don't usually do the bloods in the evenings and since most of the samples were from the new recruits…I set the Ancient sampler to test for all the standard readings, but also for their ATA gene tests."

Carson frowned up at her, unsure why something so clearly routine and expected was troubling her. "That is still standard isn't it?" He asked. "The Ancient scans give a much clearer reading of the strength and grade of the ATA gene."

"Yes, but I set it for all the bloods. I didn't think it would matter if a few extra tests were run for some of the bloods."

Carson smiled up at her. He knew Mr Woolsey's management of the city over the past year had meant that power conservation was of a priority, but surely something so small shouldn't be a problem.

"I'm sure it's fine, Lucy. I won't tell anyone," he smiled up at her and then down at her tablet when she hadn't looked reassured. "Was there something else you found?"

"It's just that…one of the samples came back with an ATA reading that was a little surprising. I've run the test three more times to be sure."

Carson frowned. "Surprising in what way?"

"As in we wouldn't expect the patient to have it," Lucy clarified.

"Who is the patient?" Carson asked intrigued. "If they are one of the new recruits they might have had the ATA therapy before they got here from Earth," he suggested.

"They're not from Earth," Lucy replied. Carson hadn't been on duty this morning so he might have missed some visiting dignitaries or something. "The blood was from baby Torren," Lucy added, her voice lowered.

Carson reached for the tablet and this time she handed it to him. "We haven't run a test for the ATA gene on him, that I know of, there wasn't any reason to," he muttered as he turned the tablet and triggered up the result, and sure enough, there is was. "Which means that Michael must have given Torren the Ancient gene before his birth," Carson considered thoughtfully as he looked back up at Lucy. "I seem to remember Teyla saying that he had injected her belly at least once."

"I thought of that," Lucy replied, her voice still low. "But, if you look at the protein levels…it can't be from gene therapy. The results are far too high for that, high even for a natural gene."

Carson studied the more precise details of the test and frowned.

"I thought that perhaps Michael had found a way of making the gene therapy stronger somehow, that perhaps with your research he…" She trailed off, worried that she was upsetting him with the reminder of his forced involvement in Michael's work. Carson brushed it aside, smiling up at her to reassure her.

"No, I didn't, though that isn't to say that Michael developed the gene therapy further after I was rescued and before he captured Teyla, or that he simply hid it from me. We know he gave himself the gene…but these levels…"

"I thought the same, so I…" she paused, glancing around again and then back to him. "I thought that perhaps we may have missed something in his father's blood work. That perhaps Kanaan had the gene and simply didn't know…"

Carson glanced up at her. "No, he doesn't. I would remember that from his treatment following his rescue from Michael." He tapped on the screen, pulling up the subsequent retests that Lucy had run, just to be sure, but everything was the same – seriously high levels of one of the known proteins created by the ATA gene. Michael must have come up with something completely new to create gene therapy with such strong results.

"But, I found something else," Lucy whispered even quieter, drawing Carson's attention back to her concerned face.

"What?"

"I happened to notice…since the standard tests I ran on Torren's blood included his blood group…there's a problem."

"With Torren's blood?" Carson asked a spike of fear running through him.

"No, but his blood group..." Lucy continued, pointing down to the tablet in Carson's hand. "Kanaan's blood group is B."

Carson glanced down at the box she had opened on the screen which displayed Kanaan's recorded blood group. Then she tapped another one and more results came up.

"Torren's blood group is A," she continued. Carson frowned down at the screen as Lucy tapped it again and brought up another result. "But, Teyla is group O."

Carson froze, staring at the results displayed clearly for him. He tapped the screen himself, looking from one set of tests to the other. "This can't be right," he muttered.

"I checked and re-checked all the samples and records. The blood groups are accurate," Lucy told him hurriedly.

Carson turned to the main computer linked into the medical system and called up the original results himself and rechecked for himself. The result was very worrying.

"You see why I wanted to speak to you," Lucy said from his side.

Carson nodded and looked at her beside him. "Kanaan isn't Torren's father," he concluded and Lucy nodded, biting her lower lip.

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Teyla had responded almost instantly to his call and had agreed to come down to the Infirmary. As he waited, Carson ran through all the tests results again, as if it would change anything. He glanced over his shoulder at the Infirmary's entrance. It was early evening and so far the infirmary remained empty. There wasn't anything to preoccupy him other than the circling worries and concerns in his mind. He had hoped that Michael's influence on Torren had been minimal, but it seemed that perhaps they had all miscalculated him again.

He heard footsteps and looked back to the entrance again to see Teyla entering with Torren sat in her arms. She smiled at Carson, though there was a touch of concern in her expression.

"Carson," she greeted him.

"Hallo, Teyla, thank you for coming down so quickly," he replied. "Hallo little man," he added to Torren, who had turned his head towards him and granted Carson a nice baby smile. He found himself scrutinising that smile, that face. Torren looked very much like his mother, though his skin and hair colour were very different. His hair had been black, but had grown lighter of late, as was normal with young children, and it had a distinctly brown touch to it now – not like Kanaan's. It was a superficial thing to note, but until now Carson hadn't noticed. He looked into the boy's dark brown eyes and could only see elements of Teyla in him. Torren grinned at him wider, happy to be the focus of so much attention.

"Is everything alright?" Teyla asked.

Carson turned his attention back to her. "Yes, as I said, Torren's blood tests all came back fine." He glanced around the empty Infirmary again. "Shall we sit over here?" He invited her towards one bay where there were several chairs near a computer station and a bed. It would be slightly more private in case anyone else came in.

She followed him to the bay, clearly concerned now, but he smiled at her reassuringly as he indicated a chair. Teyla set Torren down on the bed, leaning her hip against it, ignoring the chair. Torren could sit by himself now and Teyla pulled out a small stuffed toy from one of her pockets and handed it to him. Torren grasped the toy well and giggled as he waved it around. Teyla kept one hand gently against her son's back and turned her gaze on Carson as he sat down.

"Doctor Slava ran all the blood tests this evening and, though everything is completely fine with Torren, she found something unexpected," he began. Teyla frowned and Carson took a breath. "It seems Torren has the Ancient gene."

Teyla looked surprised, though slightly relieved as well he thought.

"Of course we suspect that Michael is behind it," Carson continued. "Though, if he was, somehow he had developed the gene therapy much further than I had, which is possible I guess but…" he cut himself off from his wandering mouth. He had to get to the point. "Doctor Slava thought that perhaps Kanaan had been given the gene, so she checked his past blood tests…"

"What is it, Carson?" She asked when he paused.

Carson had had to give very bad news to people in the past, far too many times, so this shouldn't be as difficult as that. Of course that was excluding the possible emotion impact this was going to have on Teyla, Torren and Kanaan. If Michael had been behind all this…there were possible questions there to be answered and perhaps a lot of tests of Torren in the future. If Michael had been behind Torren's conception in some way, then what else might he have done to Torren's DNA?

"I'm afraid there is no simpler way to say this…Kanaan is not Torren's father," he told her plainly.

Her eyes widened and her lips parted, and she already began shaking her head slightly.

"I'm afraid their blood groups prove it," he told her as kindly as he could. "There is no way, medically speaking, that Kanaan could be Torren's father."

Teyla's eyes remained wide for a moment and Carson wished he hadn't had to tell her this information. She looked away and down to Torren.

"But, Torren's gene…the Wraith gene from both Kanaan and I that Michael was seeking?"

"You said Michael only ever injected you with a liquid. He never inserted a larger needle deeper into your tummy?" Carson asked carefully. The only way Michael could have known the exact details of Torren's DNA would have been to take a sample whilst still in the womb.

"No, only twice did he inject me and I saw the liquid empty from the vial in his hand," he replied, her gaze still down on Torren, who had grown rather bored with the stuffed toy and was now pulling at the buttons on Teyla's jacket.

"Perhaps Michael lied to you about the Wraith gene part, or maybe he was simply waiting till after Torren was born to test his DNA then. To have tested before then, might have risked the pregnancy. I ran Torren's DNA for the Wraith gene, I hope that's alright, but all I found was the same gene as yours, no more," Carson informed her. He had never pushed her to have Torren tested before concerning his genetic structure, for that had been what Michael had been after, but now he wished he had asked sooner, because all this would have been brought to light much sooner. Would that have helped though?

"But, his mind," Teyla continued, her attention focused somewhere inside, her gaze only partly on Torren. "He has a powerful mind, he assisted me against the Wraith Queen," she protested as she looked back at Carson.

Carson looked away from her eyes to her beautiful son. "It's possible that the combination of your Wraith gene and the ATA gene enabled him to do so. For all we know, Torren may be the first person to ever have both genes combined," he considered.

Teyla's expression shifted, the shock still there, but something was different to her mood now. She looked back down at Torren.

"Whatever Michael did to him, Torren is fine," Carson tried to reassure her.

Teyla's eyes moved to meet his, her body still angled down towards her son, almost protectively. "You believe Michael is behind this?"

Carson paused, surprised by her question. "You don't think that he…" he wound off, only now realising how stupid he was being. He hadn't considered the most obvious explanation for all this. Teyla looked back down to Torren.

"He could be, but…." She shook her head.

Carson felt for her, clearly she was uncomfortable, as he was for her.

"The timing would be wrong," she uttered, perhaps more to herself than to him. "I never considered that…"

Carson watched her, wishing he could help her somehow.

"I had a monthly bleed after that time…" She muttered.

"Some women can have a light period even though they are in the early stages of pregnancy," he offered quietly.

She looked back at him, her usual confidence reasserting itself, though she was clearly still shocked. "If that were the case, then I carried Torren beyond the natural length of time."

"Perhaps the stress of being captured by Michael and the fact that it was your first pregnancy means that you could have carried Torren for a couple of weeks longer without realising it. You were trapped with Michael on his ship, the days would have been difficult to measure there. And it's quite common for women to carry their first child beyond term."

She looked back down at Torren, her hand stroking his hair softly. Carson had to wonder if she was seeing her son's features differently, as he had done.

"The simplest answer is to run a paternity DNA test. If we could have a sample from him, I can tell you for sure," he told her.

She stroked over Torren's hair again. "He is in the city. You will have his DNA on record," she replied quietly.

"I'm going to need his permission to run that test, Teyla," he told her softly.

"Of course," she replied. She straightened up, pulling away from the side of the bed. She glanced at her watch. "I will go and speak with him now." She paused, looking down at Torren and then to Carson. "Kanaan is visiting our people. Would you watch Torren for me?"

"Of course," Carson replied instantly as he stood. "I haven't spent much time with him lately," he smiled at her, trying to make sure she saw his support.

She smiled at him, though it was strained, and moved away. She looked back twice on her way out of the infirmary, her eyes on Torren.

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It took half an hour before she reappeared. Carson spent that time enjoying Torren's company, and trying not to speculate on who the mystery man might be. He had some theories, but he didn't want to commit to anything, not even in his head. He picked Torren up and carried him around the infirmary, showing him everything. The boy looked at everything with sharp interest, especially anything shiny. Several of the nurses cooed over him, enjoying the chance for a cuddle.

Carson tried not to scrutinise Torren's features, still trying to see the features of another man he may know. It was ridiculous, but he still found himself doing it. Torren lost interest in the infirmary tour and the cuddles, so Carson found him some interesting things to play with and sat him back down on the bed. He sat his chair right next to the bed to watch him. He and Torren made a drum out of a metal cup and a large lollypop stick tongue depressor. Torren enjoyed the game thoroughly and Carson smiled at the boy in delight.

He sensed someone entering the infirmary well before he heard the footsteps. There was a chance that the visitor was someone injured or unwell, but as he turned, Carson saw Teyla. She weaved around a screen that a nurse was moving, and the person behind her paused to let the screen pass first. Carson watched as the screen moved aside and John appeared. His expression told Carson instantly that he wasn't here for any reason other than which Teyla was here.

Carson turned back to Torren as he stood up, his back to the approaching pair, which meant that they couldn't see the large smile that broke across his face. He had his expression schooled by the time he turned.

Teyla reached the bay and smiled at him, rather distractedly for her. "He has been alright?" She asked of Torren.

"He's been as good as gold," Carson replied as he resisted the urge to look back down at Torren and compare features.

John reached the bay and nodded at Carson, his expression rather closed, but as he looked down at Torren, Carson saw the expression shift. John smiled down at the boy. Torren was grinning up at his 'Uncle' John, one of his favourites.

"Hey, T.J," John said down to the boy as he reached down and ruffled the boy's hair, as he always did, but this time there was a heavy weight in the air as he did.

Carson waited, unsure how best to start this conversation. "Has Teyla explained everything to you?" He asked.

"Run the test, Carson," John replied as he straightened up, his expression tightly controlled. Carson didn't need to be told that John was holding back a lot, unwilling to commit to anything until this test was run.

Carson nodded and turned to the computer screen. The screen was large enough for them to see the display clearly. He pulled up the two samples on record, Torren's and John's, and then started the comparison test. It would take moments, but he was already pretty sure of the results. Torren's ATA gene was very strong and there were only two other men in the city with anything similar and Carson was one of them.

A new box appeared, displaying the result. Carson turned back round towards Torren's parents.

"I can run it again if you want," he suggested to John.

John shook his head. "99.8% seems pretty clear," he replied citing the result displayed on the screen behind Carson.

Carson smiled awkwardly, wishing there was something he could say that would help the situation, but there wasn't. "I'll give you two some space, take all the time you need," he offered as he moved away, passing John, and as he did he said quietly "Congratulations."

John nodded in reply, though he was turning towards Torren on the bed.

Carson walked away, his heart filled with a very strange mix of real honest delight and regret for what was going to be a shock for Kanaan. He glanced back towards the bay to see that John was leaning against the bed, his hands either side of Torren who was demonstrating his drumming. Teyla was stood closer, talking to John, though Carson was too far away to hear any of it, but she didn't look too upset. John was nodding now, his head turning to look back down at Torren. Carson got a glimpse of John's expression and saw surprise there still, but something softer as well now.

John reached out and ran his hand over Torren's brown hair, and the boy looked up at his new father, grinning. Carson paused again, and finally he saw it. It was around Torren's eyes and his cheeks – that reflection of John. Seeing it now, Carson wondered how he had ever missed it before.

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END


End file.
